Saturday, February 2, 2008

It would be pointless trying to judge a family resemblance, given that the man they're supposed to take after doesn't even look like himself any more.

But celebrity watchers still believe that these children are the offspring of Michael Jackson.

The blue-eyed blonde sauntering along on the left of the main picture, clad in white jacket and jeans, is apparently his daughter Paris Katherine, nine.

Unmasked: The children thought to be Paris (left) and Prince Jackson in Las Vegas

The handsome fellow following her in a Mickey Mouse cap is ten-year-old Prince Michael.

And the little imp grinning out from beneath a hoodie on the far left, despite the best efforts of his nanny to keep him hidden, is thought to be their five-yearold brother Prince Michael II - known as Blanket.

Few outside the family and their staff have seen the faces of the children. The star has gone to great lengths to conceal their appearance in public, with scarves and shawls.

Had it not been for 49-year-old Jackson attempting another "incognito" outfit as the family stepped out in Las Vegas, they might have gone unnoticed.

Just a peek: Blanket with his nanny

He appeared in a scruffy green anorak with the hood pulled down low, large dark glasses and a scarf across the lower half of his face.

The outfit was relatively subdued, compared to some of the bizarre clothes he has worn in recent years.

He was seen covering his face with sticking plasters in Las Vegas last Christmas, an abaya - a concealing Arab woman's garment - in Bahrain and a large floppy hat, blouse and high heels in St Tropez.

The group had been attending ventriloquist Ronn Lucas's show at the Luxor Hotel in the gambling mecca.

The family have become nomads since the singer's trial over allegations of child abuse in May 2005.

Single father: Jackson covers his face while following his children through the Vegas hotel lobby

Although he was cleared, he was humiliated by revelations about his private life and became more reclusive than ever, leaving his Californian home to drift from one country to the next with his children in tow.

He is also said to be £170million in debt.

Friends insist he is a good father, despite dangling Blanket over the balcony of his Berlin hotel five years ago to gasps from the crowd below.

One friend said: "He spends all his time making sure the children are happy. Michael is a big kid himself and plays silly games with them. He does not let them out of his sight."

Covered up: Paris and Prince in 2005

The two elder children do bear some resemblance to their mother Debbie Rowe, who Jackson married in 1996.

Rowe, his second wife after Lisa Marie Presley, was a dermatologist's nurse.

When they divorced three years later she apparently gave the singer custody as "a gift".

Blanket was born to an unnamed surrogate mother. The paternity of all three children has been questioned in the past.

Parenthood: Jackson pictured at around the same age as his elder son. Debbie Rowe (right) is the mother of his first two children

Parenthood: Michael with Debbie Rowe - the mother of his first two children - shortly after their wedding in 1996